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In the Archives of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul the majority of our early records are handwritten and are not always easy to read. Since the 1980s numerous Sisters and archives staff have transcribed many of these records by deciphering the handwriting and typing out copies of these documents.

This July I immersed myself in the Sisters’ past, researching and writing the history of the Sisters of Providence as teachers at St. Margaret’s School and Maryvale Abbey in Glen Nevis, Ontario. Around that same time my husband and I decided to go to the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville and we stayed the night at Maryvale Abbey, which is now a bed and breakfast called the Abbey Inn.

Music has a long history as an important ministry of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. From the 1880s until today, Sisters of Providence have shared and continue to share their musical talents with the communities they serve.

Did you know the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul served in La Loche and Ile-a-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan? In Lancaster, Ontario? In Pincher Creek, Alberta? In Entebbe, Uganda? Over the course of their history, Sisters have served in six Canadian provinces and five countries.

The history of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul has often been written about in terms of the missions, institutions and ministries of the congregation. The focus has been on the works of the whole instead of the individual; yet the whole would be nothing without the women who have served since 1861.

The Catholic Archivist Group conference was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan a week before the unveiling of the “Called to Serve” monument in Regina.

In light of that upcoming event, Sr. Teresita Kambeitz, OSU, gave a fantastic presentation at the conference about the history of the 61 congregations of women religious who have served in Saskatchewan since 1860.

Between 1870 and the late 1930s over 100,000 “home children” were sent to Canada from Great Britain. Due to the industrial revolution, cities in England in the mid-19th century were overcrowded and living conditions for many poor and destitute adults and children were terrible.

Ninety years ago, Sister Mary Angel Guardian Mangan supervised the building of St. Mary's Hospital in Camrose, Alberta. The hospital opened in October 1924 and was staffed by eight Sisters. While, according to the annals, the Sisters' days were "spent opening boxes, unpacking furniture, trying to place it, picking [their] way among workmen of all trades," they also had to go to the parish church every day for Mass, as the hospital chapel was not ready yet.

Lillian Blanchfield, her two sisters and her two brothers, were “rescued” from the Shaw Street Workhouse in Liverpool, England by the Catholic Children’s Protection Society of Liverpool. They crossed the Atlantic in 11 days aboard the Parisian steamship in the company of Mrs. Lacey and 60 other home children.

In these times of mass media coverage we take for granted seeing and hearing Pope Francis on television, radio and online. This access was not always the case…what if you had never heard the voice of the Pope? What would the first time you heard his voice mean to you?

In 1873, Sisters Mary Jane de Chantal and Mary Elizabeth went on a collecting tour in Massachusetts, where they visited Holyoke, a large manufacturing town. They got permission from the pastor, Fr. Harkins, to collect in his parish – and discovered that he had studied under Sr. Mary Elizabeth's brother, Fr. Stafford, at Regiopolis College in Kingston. He asked the Sisters to open a charitable mission in the city.

The Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul have had two motherhouses over the course of their history. ‘Motherhouse’ is the official administrative home of a religious congregation. The House of Providence, now Providence Manor, served as the congregation’s motherhouse from 1861 to 1932 when the motherhouse designation moved to the new Novitiate building at Heathfield on Princess Street.

Ninety-two years after preparations for a new hospital to be built and operated by the Sisters of Providence in Kitchener, Ontario were cancelled, the original architectural drawings were returned to the Sisters of Providence Archives.